Ivory Coast’s ‘Floating Island’ points to greener tourism
Mini resort is a moveable island that floats on a platform made of 700,000 discarded bottles
Abidjan, Aug 25: The seaside resort offers visitors a cool drink or tasty meal, a dip in a pool, a karaoke session or an overnight stay, all with a view.
Nothing much new there, you may say -- creature comforts like this are pretty much standard in tropical hotels. The big difference, though, is that this mini resort is also a moveable island that floats on plastic bottles.
Riding on the laguna in Abidjan, Ivory Coast's economic hub, the unusual complex floats on a platform made from 700,000 discarded bottles and other buoyant debris.
Its inventor, Frenchman Eric Becker, says his creation can help greener, more mobile tourism -something less harmful to seas and coastlines than traditional fixed, concrete resorts.
His “Ile Flottante” -French for “Floating Island” -- comprises two thatched bungalows and a restaurant with a bar, two small pools, trees and
shrubs and a circular walkway, spread out over 1,000 square metres (10,700 square feet).
Visitors are brought to the moored island by a boat. Water is provided by a pipe from the shore. Electricity is supplied by solar panels, backed by a generator. The island is bigger than a moored boat and handier than a jetty as it can also be taken to other locations, Becker said.
“It really is an artificial island that floats -- you can move it.”Becker, a former computer entrepreneur, first toyed with the idea of building a catamaran.
But it was when he came to Abidjan and saw the lagoon that the vision of a floating, moveable island came into his mind -- and he sold everything he owned to achieve it.
The first step was to forage for everything floatable -- “plastic bottles, bits of polystyrene, even beach sandals”.
Bemused locals gave him the nickname of “Eric Bidon” -- a word that has a subtle dual meaning of jerrycan and phoney.
“We bought disused bottles off people, we foraged for them in the lagoon. After a while, we learned to follow the wind and find the places where floating rubbish accumulates,” he said. After living on his island for a number of years, Becker turned it into a hotel last year.
He has around 100 customers a week, mostly curious Ivorians or ecologically-friendly tourists.
Others want a relaxing break from the bustling city and to use its swimming pools -- taking a dip in the lagoon, fouled by industrial pollution and sewage outflows is an act for the foolhardy.